As part of the campaign for greater transparency in higher education, which launched on Monday, UCU members will hand open day attendees a leaflet with 10 questions they would like students to ask.

The questions cover how much teaching is done by staff on zero-hours contracts and how much more the vice-chancellor or principal earns compared to the lowest paid staff.

The leaflet will also include questions about whether students working at the university will get paid a living wage and how much the university would really like to charge students in fees.

UCU has said that the aim of the campaign is to expose the number of staff that are forced to work on insecure temporary contracts.

It also wants to challenge the poor pay of many staff and students who work at universities and to expose the universities who see students as "little more than cash cows".

Sally Hunt, general secretary of UCU, says: "We are encouraging students to ask the questions that universities would rather they didn't.

"Students have a right to know what universities would really like to charge them in fees and whether or not they can expect a fair wage if they end up working in the campus shop during their time there.

"Students should find out whether or not their lecturers are on decent contracts or being held back by zero-hours deals. Students are bombarded by information these days, but so much of it is just advertising. So it's difficult to see the wood for the trees.

"We need far greater transparency in the higher education sector and prospective students should exercise their critical capacities even before they join a university."

Would you ask your university these questions on an open day?

1. How much of my teaching will be given by staff employed on zero-hours and temporary contracts?

2. What is the student:staff ratio at the university?

3. Does the university pay the living wage to all staff it employs, including staff on casual contracts?

4. If I take a job working at the university while I am a student will I be paid the living wage?

5. Are the open day guides who show me around paid the living wage?

6. What is the ratio of the vice-chancellor's salary to the pay of the lowest paid member of staff?

7. What will the university do if proposed cuts to Disabled Students' Allowance are implemented in 2015?

8. Does the university want to see tuition fees rise above their current maximum of £9,000 a year?

9. Does the university believe that student loans should be sold to a private company?

10. What would this university do if the terms of their students' loans changed for the worse after they had started their course?

• What do you think of the campaign? What questions do you think need putting to universities? Let us know in the comment section below.